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British actor Edward Woodward became famous in the U.S. playing the title role in television's "The Equalizer."

Edward Woodward, the distinguished British actor who played the lead role in the television series "The Equalizer" in the 1980s, has died in London at age 79.

Woodward, who once estimated that he appeared on as many as 3,000 television shows, also did Shakespeare and got his dramatic start in 1946, appearing in a regional production of "A Kiss for Cinderella." He went on to act in more than 40 films as well as the long-running British soap opera "The Eastenders."

His last film was"Hot Fuzz," in 2007.

Woodward is survived by his second wife, actress Michele Dotrice, their daughter and two sons and a daughter from a previous marriage.